Chapter Twelve

The ground had seeped through my clothes and stained my skin when they came back. the RV screeched and hissed to a stop in the mud and the squelch of the ground beneath the tires made me cringe as Glenn and Abraham's deaths played over in my mind.

In front of me, everyone was broken and in the sunlight coming through we looked like ghosts. But Maggie...oh Maggie, she looked like she couldn't breath anymore, she kept staring at Glenn's body. Rosita and Sasha were staring at the ground, breathing shakily and trying not to move as the Saviors around us talked to each other.

When Negan came back out with Rick trailing behind I knew we were gone. None of us had a chance of standing back up to fight against hi., Daryl was on his side crying as Glenn's blood continued to trail towards him. Rick was devastated, his eyes were so wide; he looked dead inside. I looked up as Negan came to a stop in front of us all again, grinning from ear to ear and resting on Lucille and just...looking at us. Negan turned to Rick again as Rick zoned out of listening to him talk.

"-get some guns to the back of their heads."

I was jerked back into line with the others, and a gun was pressed to the back of my head as Negan and Rick stood before us. Simon was smiling down at me as he pressed the rifle I had harder into the back of my skull.

"Kid!" Negan turned to Carl, "Right here...kid...now."

"Negan, no!" I called out, my throat seemed to rip in half and Simon pulled my head back by my hair, Negan waved me off as Carl was brought out to the middle of the area, "Negan, please he's just a kid-"

"Shut up!" Simon tugged harder on my hair and I whimpered in pathetic pain.

"-get down on the ground kid, next to daddy. Spread those wings." Negan grinned as he grabbed an axe and called Simon over for a pen, "Sorry kid, this is gonna be as cold as a warlock's ballsack, just like he was hanging his ballsack above you and dragging it right across your forearm."

Negan laughed as a thick black line was drawn across Carl's skin. Simon returned next to me and knelt down as Negan told Rick to chop off Carl's arm.

"This is all your fault, girlie, you shouldn't have run away. I hope you enjoyed watching the asian and the redheaded dick heads die." Simon whispered in my ear, I started to hyperventilate as Carl and Rick and Michonne began begging Negan to not do this to them, "I wanna see you watch more of your friends die."

I struggled against Simon and he laughed, tightening his hold in my hair and sticking the rifle in my ribs.

"Not making a decision is a big decision, Rick!" Negan yelled at him, "You really want to see all these people die? You will, you will see every. Ugly. Thing."

"Negan!" I tried calling out again as Negan began counting down, Carl was laying on the ground trying to calm Rick down as the sherriff cried and began to slowly raise the axe, "NO!"

I jabbed my elbow into Simon's side and tried to get up but Dwight stepped in and bashed me in my knee and I fell to the ground again. I looked up to see Rick drop the axe to the ground and Carl pulled his arm back into himself as Negan took the axe away and grinned in Rick's face.

"You answer to me, you provide for me, you belong to me. Right?" Negan was so close to Rick's face, Rick didn't even blink, "Speak when you're spoken to!"

"Right." Rick nodded shakily and Negan pulled away and looked to everyone in the clearing.

"Today has been a productive damn day! Now, I hope for all your sake, that you get it now...that you understand how things work!"

I picked myself up off the ground and forced myself to kneel again, my clothes were so dirty...and bloody.

"Whatever you had going for you...that is over now." Negan continued laughing before zeroing in on Daryl who was glaring murder at him, "You know what...he's got guts-not a little bitch like someone I know. I like him. he's mine now."

"No..." Rick protested silently but Negan didn't hear him as Dwight grabbed Daryl off the ground.

"And I'll be taking my girl back too, she's been gone too too long I think." Negan snapped his fingers at me and Rick stepped forward to block him and Negan raised an eyebrow, "No, Rick. You don't get to protest for her. The way I look at it, you sorry shits took her from me. Now I know I said I'd bring Daryl to you and chop him up but her? If you defy me I'll make sure she's the one slaughtering you all. How's that sound?"

Rick kept silent.

"And that's what I thought." Negan grinned and Simon hauled me up and over to Negan.

"Rick, I'm so sorry-" I tried to get closer but Negan put Lucille up between us and tsked.

"No, no. No goodbyes. Load her up, Simon." Negan turned to Rick and tossed him keys to a truck.

I stumbled after Simon to another truck and he shoved me in the back seat between him and Dwight. I didn't know which truck Daryl had been loaded into, I tried to look at everyone in the clearing as Negan waved to them and departed from the circle. The Saviors around us began to whistle mockingly as they bled back into the trees and disappeared. Negan got into the truck and we pulled out, I twisted my body to watch Rick collapse next to Maggie as she tried to get closer to Glenn.

We hit a bump in the clearing and I was jolted to turn back around, I looked up and saw Negan looking at me through the rearview mirror as we got onto the road again.

"You look as beautiful as the day you left, Laney." he was all soft smiles and love now, with blood splattered across his face, "But you know, for a bunch of shitheads that ransacked the armory and killed my people ya'll are just a bunch of damn pussies underneath."

Simon laughed out loud at that, Dwight kept silent next to me but I could see the smirk growing on the side of his face,

"Should have seen the look on that short haired girl's face when you bashed that Chinese kids' head in." Simon laughed again and I just...reacted.

I slammed my foot into his knee and elbowed Simon as hard as I could into his collarbone. He yelled out in pain as I elbowed Dwight away from me as well and attacked Simon in the car. I managed to get ontop of him in the seat, ignoring Negan's yelling at us. Simon's fists beat into my side as I grabbed and tore and bit him as hard as I could, screaming at the top of my lungs with Dwight behind me, clawing at my back trying to get me off of the asshole.

"KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF!" Negan slammed on the brakes and I went flying forward through the space between the two front seats.

My head hit the gear shift and Dwight grabbed my legs as Simon struggled to get up from between the back seats. Negan grabbed me by my throat as I started to sit up and held me down against the gears. My nose was bleeding but Simon looked worse.

"You good?" Negan watched Simon sit up and wipe at the scratches over his face and body before nodding.

"Little bitch-"

I kicked out at Simon and cuffed him across the cheek again before Dwight held my legs down tighter.

"He's Korean, asshole."

"Laney!" Negan was struggling not to crack a smile when Simon's head snapped to the side and then hissed in pain, "Melaney, fuckin' stop it."

"That little-"

"Shut the fuck up, Simon." Negan growled low and Simon fell back against the seat, looking tense, "Matter of fact, Simon, bind her hands. Dwight, go and blind her and gag her and both of you get the fuck out and ride behind."

My hands were tied tight with a zip tie, cutting into my flesh with a knowing grin from Simon. Dwight wrapped Daryl's bandana around my eyes and shoved a cloth into my mouth before Negan wrestled me into passenger seat. He clipped the seat belt down carefully as I heard the men get out and walk away from the car. I was hyperaware of everything now, I could tell Negan was looking at me by listening to the shift in his leather jacket and the scratch of his beard along his red scarf.

"All right, off we go." Negan sat back in his seat and turned on an old CD in the car before I felt the car lurch forward again before heading steadily down the road.

Negan quietly hummed next to me, shifting every few moments as time dragged on. The road beneath us was surprisingly smooth, but it really shouldn't have surprised me to be honest; the Saviors always cleared the road every few weeks so nothing happened out on runs.

"Tell me something." Negan began and I jumped in my seat at how close he was, "How much longer do you think you could have gone without running into me. I mean, I know the world's big Babygirl, but we're drawn to each other."

He took the gag out of my mouth and I heard it drop somewhere in the backseat. He put his arm around my seat, resting just behind my head, I felt him take a strand of my dirty hair in between his finger...my skin began to itch everywhere.

"I was hoping we'd avoid each other forever."

"You see, I told them I thought you were avoiding me." Negan laughed darkly, no humor to it anymore, "I know you won't give up the names of the people in Sanctuary that helped you, but I hope you know they won't be helping you again."

"...you've become more violent." I heard him sigh and felt the car begin to slow down at a turn.

"We're in a new world order these days, Babygirl, lots of things have changed. I myself, feel as though I have not. You, on the other hand, I believe we'll see how much you've changed when I bring you back home."

Home...home was back in Alexandria for me. Home was walking outside everyday with Daryl and heading over to Rick's house to check up on Judith and Carl. Home was Sanctuary...home was with Daryl in bed not wanting to wake up and go to our next shift in the beating sun. But Negan had taken that away, he had taken Glenn and Abraham away too. Glenn was home, Glenn was talking about how much he couldn't wait for the baby to be here and how much he loved Maggie. Abraham was watching him unload and reload a weapon quicker than I could finish a sentence.

"You took that away from me." I whispered under the music, Negan didn't hear me, "You aren't my home."

"Let us in!" Negan yelled out of the truck as we began winding down the Sanctuary path

He rolled both of our windows down and I could hear the faint noise of the gates scraping against the ground ahead of us, I could hear the rumble of vehicles behind us as well.

The car pulled in through the gates and I was instantly greeted with smells all too familiar to me. I could hear people gathering around as well as the Saviors poured in. Negan stopped the truck and took a minute to calm himself down next to me.

"Alright. Let's get this show on the road."

I was taken out of the car and stumbled into several pairs of arms before Dwight finally caught me and held me up with a whispered threat. I couldn't tell which way I was facing, all I knew was that Negan had walked up and placed a hand on the back of my neck softly, like he was trying to reassure me.

"Take them both down to the jail cells, I'll deal with her later. Break the redneck." He pulled my blindfold up a bit so he could whisper in my ear, I was able to look down and see a dozen shadows around me, "Don't do anything stupid, Laney."

Negan left and I was dragged away, I could hear chatter begin to rise up all around us as Dwight led us through several doors and around a doxen more turns.

"You fucked up." Dwight said next to me as we entered down a stale hallway.

"Not as fucked as your face though, Sherry leave you again?"

"Fuck off."

"I should have told him you helped me on the drive over here." I threatened and Dwight's hold loosened in fear, "He was asking too, but I didn't say shit."

"You'd sell out Amber too."

"No, he wouldn't hurt his Wives...I bet that's where Sherry went." I laughed and suddenly I was shoved forward into an open area where I hit the ground hard, "Damnit!"

"Take his shit off." I heard Dwight talking to someone outside the cell as I struggled to take the bandana off by scraping my face against the ground.

I heard someone else enter the room before the door was slammed shut with a lock and a click.

"Here."

Daryl's voice seemed to boom out around me in the space we were in, the bandana was removed from my face and I blinked in confusion as total blackness continued to surround me. Daryl's breathing was labored in front of me as he went to work trying to loosen the zip ties around my wrist. He ripped them off after a good minute and I hissed as the ties cut into my skin even more.

"Sorry."

"Don't be...I'm not blind, am I?"

"In a jail cell." he responded, taking my wrists in his hands and carefully touching them where they were sore.

I tried to peer through the darkness surrounding us, my eyes were very slowly adjusting to the light. I stood up slowly, Daryl stayed sitting on the ground as I backed up until I hit a wall and continued counting my steps, seventeen steps later and I hit another wall.

"Melaney."

"I've been in here." I responded, blindly reaching out beneath me searching for an old bed, "They've taken out a few things though...Negan beat me half to death in here."

I walked over to the corner, five steps away and felt the cold ground underneath my fingertips, "I was in this corner before I blacked out when Negan hit me with the butt of Lucille."

Daryl didn't respond as I made my way clumsily over to him and sat down next to him against a wall. I reached out for him and made contact with bare skin, I frowned and traced a finger over the side of his body and sighed as I was met with nothing but skin.

"Are you cold?"

"'M fine." he shrugged but I felt the goosebumps spread over his skin.

We stayed silent for a while, listening to each other breath and shifting on the concrete underneath us as our eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see Daryl's cuts and bruises all over his body. I could see the blood stains on my clothes, I could feel the burn where Negan had touched me on my face. I looked down to where I was grasping Daryl's hand, and felt the tears begin to slide down my face as I was alone in my thoughts.

It was still all my fault, I had caused all of this. If I had just stayed in Sanctuary we would have never come across Alexandria, we would have never cared to look that far for another community. Now...now Rick owed Negan everything they owned, everything. I could have kept Negan at bay, I could have sucked it up and stayed and everything would be alright. Glenn would be alive with Abraham, he would be able to see his baby grow up and still be in love with Maggie. Abraham would still be fighting over whether or not he loved Sasha...I could have prevented this if I just stayed.

"Daryl..."

"Yeah."

"...I have to stay here from now on. I can't let Negan kill any more of you."

"What...what are you talking about?" Daryl turned his head toward me, I could picture the confusion and panic on his face, "You ain't stayin' here Melaney, you're comin' with me when we get the hell out of here."

"I'm the only one Negan will never hurt." I looked at him, and brushed the hair out of his eyes, kneeling in between his legs carefully, "I can keep Negan from killing everyone, he's still in love with me, he'll listen to anything I say to him."

The more I kept talking, the more reasonable the plan began to play out in my head. It was true, Negan wouldn't hurt me again, he knows I can escape now and I can run from him for awhile. If I could keep him from hurting the others for however long it took for Rick and everyone to jump back onto their feet then I can destroy Negan and the Saviors from the inside.

Daryl grabbed my hands on his face and pulled me closer, mumblinfg and shaking his head.

"You're not fuckin' stayin' here. You're not."

"Daryl, I can do this. I can destroy these people from the inside. If I just play along with Negan, get on his good side again then we can take them down-"

"You're not staying here!" He snapped and grabbed m shoulder, "I'm not gonna let you stay here when we leave, that's not an option. You're comin' home with me, we're gonna go back home together."

"Daryl." I cried silently a little bit more as we bumped heads and closed our eyes, Daryl was crying as well, "Daryl, please listen to me."

"I'm not letting you go, you're all I've got. Glenn's gone, man...Carol..."

"I know, I know. but because you're all I have left as well, I'm not going to let him hurt you. I won't let him hurt Rick or Carl or Michonne or Maggie and her baby."

"Melaney, I can't leave without you-"

"I love you Daryl." I kissed him softly and he kissed back, running a hand through my tangled muddy hair and trying to pull me closer to him as humanly possible.

"I won't let you leave me." he breathed, my hair fell in front of my face, blocking everything else around us as we tried to get even closer, "You're all I have left."

"I won't let anyone ever hurt you, Daryl. I won't stand by and watch you suffer." I shook my head and felt salt on my lips as he kissed me again, wrapping his arms around my waist.

His bare skin rubbed against my pants, but he didn't care as he just pulled me close and buried his face in my shoulder. I felt like I was suffocating as I held him, and cried above him, kneeling as he refused to let me go.

Nobody was going to hurt us again, I wouldn't stand by and watch Negan kill those who I loved. My parents and Leo's death was hard enough...but if Daryl died...

I laid down, letting Daryl pull me close to him as we curled up against the wall and kept a tight hold on each other.

Sanctuary pressed down on us.